IdN v19n4: Shapes-in-Pattern — Shaping Their Own Patterns

Patterns are easy, right? Just come up with a nice little design, then copy-and-paste it ad infinitum. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. We decided to reduce the parameters even further – and asked seven creatives who utilise mainly shapes to achieve their desired effect, how the tight discipline involved both constrains and liberates them. It is a lot more complicated than you might think – but the results can be deeply satisfying.

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The Shapes-in-Pattern Issue

Shaping their own path

Do you know what a drop repeat is? Or an allover, a foulard, a floral, or a conversational? They are all terms from the world of pattern design. There doesn't seem to be one for pattern design that is based on the use of shapes – but that is what this issue's main feature is all about.

Shapes are a fundamental constituent of almost any form of visual art. As featured artist Andy Gilmore puts it: "Pattern design is about harmony in all its elements – form, colour and composition". The ability to envisage the big picture, to see the wood for the trees, is a rare one. Merely reproducing over and over what looks good on a sheet of paper or a computer screen won't cut it: it is the overall effect that counts.

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Motion Gallery: Collage

Much more than just patchwork

Ever since Braque and Picasso experimented with this centuries-old technique at the start of the 20th century, it has played a leading role in modern visual communication, becoming especially prevalent in recent years in cinematography or motion art. New elements and new methods of mixing them together have made for some exciting new developments. In this DVD, we bring you 31 such radical departures from 25 talented motion directors – all of which will pin you back in your seat with a mixture of astonishment and admiration.

Creative Country: Russia

Living up to its revolutionary heritage

Russia, prior to and during the early days of the revolution, made a huge contribution to the world's artistic patrimony – in literature, dance, music and art. Now that the straitjacket of Stalinist orthodoxy and Socialist Realism has been removed, what remains of that glorious past? Are today's Russians as innately talented as their celebrated forebears? And what is the world of design like for its 21st-century disciples? What are their hopes and fears, the challenges they face, the obstacles they have to overcome? We asked half a dozen talented new Russian creatives to tell us the "pravda" (truth) about the contemporary design scene in their native land.

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Edited by:

Arseny Vesnin | designcollector.net

Type Casting

Design with a difference: Chinese versus Roman fonts

Fonts have always been a key factor in contemporary graphic design, but inventing new type-faces on the foundations of the original Chinese font families, with their huge variety of potential combinations and complications, is a challenge that those who have only dealt with the Roman alphabet can scarcely comprehend. Hong Kong-based graphic designer Julius Hui is a seasoned practitioner of both forms – and here he shares with us the fundamental differences between the two and gives us the benefit of his vast experience.

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Julius Hui

Idea

Why paper can still cut it

Paper is often used for commercial and promotional design purposes, in window displays for upmarket department stores, for instance, or as the background to some blockbusting TV advertisements. The fusion between state-of-the art visual technologies and old-school hand-made paper creations has proved to be a perfect marriage. We talk to some specialists in the field, idealists who are keeping an old tradition alive, and ask them why, as well as how, they do it.

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Studio

Polish and Swedish set-ups in the spotlight

A trail-blazing graphic studio from Poland, 3group, and a cool outfit from Sweden, Aoki, which specialises in clients from the worlds of culture and fashion, share a knack of coming up with distinctive brands and identities. Different approaches, but a like-minded attention to detail and belief in the power of the imaginative process and creative freedom.